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Ensuring Trouble-Free Implementation on Election Day

  1. Reduce the need for provisional ballots. Verifying the eligibility of voters who case provisional ballots can be burdensome. Find way to reduce the need for this safeguard by addressing registration problems ahead of time and by attempting to resolve eligibility questions at the polling place so that voters may cast a regular ballot. For example, include educate the public about the importance of voting in the correct precinct.
  2. Make the provisional voting process voter-friendly.

    Example:
    Los Angeles County displays a "Count Me In!" poster to help voters understand and feel comfortable with the provisional voting process.

  3. Establish sound methods for directing voters to the correct polling place (and correct precinct if there are multiple precincts within a polling place). Such methods might include voter notification cards, web-based poll site locators, automated phone systems, adjacent precinct maps, and street directories. Include instructions in pollworker training on how to identify a voter's correct polling place and precinct. Provide resources to help the pollworkers direct a voter to his/her correct voting place.

    Example:
    In Virginia, voters can look up their registration status on the VA State Board of Election website. The site can also tell you where your correct polling place is; all the voter needs is his or her "Driver's License PIN number."

    Example:
    In St. Louis County, MO, when a pollworker calls the election office to clarify the voter's registration for the purpose of sending the voter to his/her correct polling place, the voter is given an authorization code to present to the pollworkers at the correct place. This practice saves redundant phone calls on Election Day.

  4. Promote pollworker accountability by tracking errors made in misdirecting voters to the incorrect voting place.

    Example:
    New York City pollworkers are required to sign paperwork when they direct voters to another polling place; as a result, election officials know who made mistakes in this process and will count the vote to correct for pollworker error.

  5. If possible, provide access to the voter registration list at the polling place.

    Example:
    Cook County, Illinois, provides a bonus to pollworkers for using their personal cell phones to communicate with the election office regarding troubleshooting problems and to clarify voter registration issues.

    Example:
    Boone County, Missouri, supplies poll workers with cell phones, pagers and networked lap tops for processing change of addresses on Election Day.

  6. Ensure access to the list of inactive voters. Provide a list of inactive voters at every polling place so that the voter might be activated and the vote file updated when appropriate.

    Example:
    Miami-Dade County, Florida, provides every polling place with a lap top computer containing the full voter list.